Comparison of fMRI data analysis by SPM99 on different operating systems

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Hardware selection for functional MRI (fMRI) data analysis can be influenced by existing laboratory platforms and software compatibility.
• Understanding platform-specific performance is crucial for efficient and accurate fMRI data processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of SPM99 software across different hardware platforms (PC, Unix, Linux) for fMRI data analysis.
• To identify hardware capabilities and limitations affecting fMRI data processing.
• To compare the consistency of fMRI analysis results across various computing environments.

Main Methods:

• fMRI data were acquired from six healthy, right-handed volunteers performing a hand-grasping task using a 1.5T scanner.
• Each subject's fMRI run comprised 98 images acquired with a gradient echo-type echo planar imaging sequence.
• SPM99 software was utilized to analyze the fMRI data on multiple Personal Computer (PC), Unix, and Linux machines.

Main Results:

• fMRI data analysis yielded consistent results across all tested PC, Unix, and Linux machines.
• Processing large volumes of fMRI data revealed performance limitations specifically on PC machines.
• No significant differences in analysis outcomes were observed due to hardware components like CPU, memory, or hard drive.

Conclusions:

• The operating system (OS), rather than hardware specifications, is likely the primary factor influencing limitations in analyzing large fMRI datasets.
• SPM99 software demonstrates consistent performance for fMRI analysis across diverse hardware platforms.
• Platform choice may impact processing efficiency for large fMRI datasets, with OS being a key consideration.